After hours of debates by government and opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), the Committee of Supply approved a $32.2B supplemental budget.
The MPs convened on Friday at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) for the consideration of Financial Papers 1 and 2 of 2024 which was presented on July 31, 2024 by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh.
After approving Financial Paper 1 which catered for over $8 billion in advance funds taken from the contingency fund; approval was sought for Financial Paper Number 2 which caters for Supplementary Estimates (Current and Capital) totalling $32.2 Billion.
A large portion of the supplementary caters for power generation, with $12 billion being allocated to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. for fuel cost, Matthew’s Ridge Power and Light Company Inc. receiving $18,872,000 to pay debt and for fuel, and LINMINE (Community Power) was allocated $740,970,626 to pay bauxite company BOSAI to generate electricity for Linden for the rest of 2024.
Addressing the House, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips spoke about the advancement made in the power generation sector and provided updates on the generation capacity of the various systems. He also gave account for what the monies that will be spent on for GPL for some 1,644,000 barrels of fuel at a cost of US$34 per barrel.
Additionally, the sums of $168,375,951 and $161,778,271 was allocated for the Mabaruma Power Company Lethem Power Company respectively. Responding to inquiries from Opposition MP David Patterson, the Prime Minister stated, “Both Mabaruma and Lethem there has been an increase in the number of households who are getting electricity now…if we did not add solar farms at those two communities it is quite obvious that we will be asking for more than what is listed there.”
All of the aforementioned agencies fall under the portfolio of the Office of the Prime Minister.
With an allocation of $2,247,000,000 for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha disaggregated the sum stating that $813 million was allocated for the grinding estate, $480 million for the vested estate, $287 million for fuel, $73 million for lubricant, $470 million for other essential material and supplies, and $127 million for lorry contractors.
Also, the sum of $437,289,683 went to the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), $60,000,000 was allocated for the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary/Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) and $109,921,210 for the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).
Moreover, under the Ministry of Public Works, supplementary funding was approved as follows: $1.6 billion for Sea and River Defence projects, $297.4 million to support the Transport and Harbours Department, $159.2 million for the completion of the Bartica Stelling, and $680.5 million to facilitate essential upgrades to ferry vessels.
The Committee also approved $904.8 million for the construction and rehabilitation of hinterland roads and $600 million to complete infrastructure projects for critical water supply to hinterland communities.
Moreover, the government secured approval for a supplementary allocation of $2.3 billion to address long-standing payments owed to various suppliers of goods and services across different Government agencies including the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, and Ministry of Housing and Water.
